2018

In order to reduce CO2 emissions in road transport, CO2 limits on cars and light duty vehicles will be further tightened. The EU Commission has made a proposal for a Regulation in this regard of which cep takes a primarily critical view because stricter CO2 limits give rise to high CO2 avoidance costs.

2018

As the cepDefault-Index shows, the trends in creditworthiness over the last year have varied between the eurozone countries. Thus the ability to repay debts of two-thirds of eurozone countries (including Germany) is steadily increasing whilst in others it has been falling continuously or is already lost.

2018

The creditworthiness of Greece and Portugal continues to decline. This is the conclusion reached by cep, which has just updated its Default-Index for these two countries. In the case of Greece, the three rescue packages undertaken since 2010 have, in cep’s view, done nothing to change this. Sooner or later, Greece will therefore need a fourth rescue package.

2018

The EU Commission wants to increase efforts to combat the spread of antimicrobial resistance. With this aim, it has submitted a European Action Plan in line with the concept of “One Health”. In cep’s view, this is a sensible European initiative because resistant pathogens spread across borders thus making it necessary to take both EU-wide and global combating measures.

2017

Against the backdrop of increased Chinese foreign direct investments in the EU, the Commission wants to create a legal "framework" for screening foreign direct investments (FDI). The Regulation does provide clarity about the screening procedure to be used by Member States. Vague terms however carry a protectionist risk.

2017

The EU Commission wants to give provisions on driving times and rest periods greater clarity and make them more flexible. In addition, enforcement will be improved by ensuring more efficient use of tachographs. In cep’s view, expanding the time frame, for the drivers’ compulsory weekly rest periods, to four weeks, creates more scheduling flexibility.